Evergreen’s impact on the community is more than just economic

Editorial: evergreen’s impact far beyond economic

A recent study calculated that The Evergreen State College generated $161 million in economic activity in Thurston County in 2012. That’s a good thing, but it’s not even the best thing Evergreen has done for our community.

The study, commissioned by Evergreen, also found that Evergreen supports 1,590 local jobs and generates $4 in local economic activity for every state dollar invested. Each state dollar also results in $20.63 in increased annual earnings of alumni living in Washington State, compared to what they would have made without their college degree. Off-campus spending by students alone generated $40 million in economic impact and 389 jobs in Thurston County in 2012.

If Evergreen were a private employer, it would be the fourth largest in our community. Also, Evergreen “buys local”: 59% of all operational spending benefits employees and business owners in Thurston County and 83% benefits employees and business owners in Washington.

Of course, basic common sense would predict that Evergreen is a major economic driver. After all, any large employer has a wide impact on a local economy, for better or worse (see: Olympia Brewery, closed). And any public investment in education, including higher education, generates long term economic benefits to society.

But common sense doesn’t always win out. Starting almost immediately after its founding in the late 1960s and continuing into the 1980s, conservative state legislators tried repeatedly to shut down Evergreen. The liberal political tendencies of its students and faculty hurt those legislators’ delicate feelings (and also, we suspect, the non-traditional approach to learning confused their delicate intellects). The key to ending those efforts was the appointment of former Republican (the old-style thoughtful moderate type of Republican) governor Dan Evans as college president, from which post he could lobby those legislators to protect the college’s budget.

And thank goodness, because Evergreen has contributed much, much more than money to Olympia. The steady stream of intellect, enthusiasm, idealism, and energy that constantly streams into Evergreen also streams out into the wider community.

There are artists, from Calvin Johnson and Nikki McClure to the multitudes who are not (yet) well-known. There are business owners; our best guess is that about half of the small businesses in downtown Olympia are owned by Evergreen alumni (as is a certain fortnightly local newspaper). There are state employees by the bucketful; at all levels of state government, right up to high-level agency managers, you will find Greeners, including both those who earned their undergraduate degrees and then entered state service as well as those who started in state government and then went back for a master’s degree at Evergreen in order to advance their career. There are even increasing numbers of local elected officials. (There are also a few celebrities – Matt Groening, Michael Richards – but frankly, they’ve left Olympia and that’s okay. While it is fun to remember them, Evergreen and Olympia can both stand on their own without needing to bask in their reflected fame.)

The spirit of Evergreen has seeped into many aspects of our community. Thankfully, that spirit is one of intellectual curiosity, creativity, and engagement. It is a spirit that encourages its graduates to strive to improve the community around it, not just accept it.

Evergreen’s outstanding reputation is reflected in repeated ranking of Evergreen by various national publications as one of the top academic colleges in the country – especially, though not exclusively, among small public colleges. But the reputation was earned because of Evergreen alumni graduating, going out into the community, and showing their stuff.

Evergreen has its critics, obviously. Those critics aren’t really mad at the college as much as at the students… or, really, at the relatively small portion of students who occasionally protest something or other. However, even the most dramatic protests – the May Day rally that shut down the intersection of Cooper Point Road and Black Lake Boulevard, for example, or the mini-riot that destroyed a sheriff’s car after a rap concert – have minimal negative impact on the community beyond aggravating a few Evergreen-haters who are looking for something to complain about. (For the record, we believe the destruction of the sheriff’s car was a socially unredeemable embarrassment, but the intersection closure was a creative, non-violent statement that can’t be faulted just because some people couldn’t understand the statement.)

Mostly, the critics are responding to the reputation Evergreen earned right from the beginning: that they’re all a bunch of dirty hippies. And in 1970, well, yeah, that was largely true.

But the college has changed, along with everything else in Olympia and America. The student body is closer to a traditional college (not identical, but closer). Students are more likely to have enrolled right out of high school, and they met more difficult and more traditional admissions criteria. That’s not a bad thing, just a natural evolution to a more mature institution.

At the same time, Evergreen has sought to reach out to students who traditionally have been less likely to attend higher education. The Native American programs, Tacoma branch campus, and evening and weekend studies, especially, have successfully connected Evergreen to new parts of the community.

This brings us to the biggest mistake we believe was made by the founders of Evergreen: placing the campus in the forest so far out of town. We understand the attraction of creating an isolated retreat for academic exploration, and of lower land prices. Still, the college’s location created a physical separation that has reduced the social connection between Evergreen and Olympia. Perhaps there would be even more intellectual, artistic, and economic benefits, and even fewer critics, if the campus was nearer to downtown.

The best way to fix that mistake now would be to open a downtown Olympia branch. It would require state money, of course, but we’ve already seen the positive return on state investment. Classes would be available to more potential students. Speakers and the arts would be closer to more non-students. A physical footprint of the college in the heart of our city would enrich both the college and city.

We encourage all fellow Evergreen alumni, as well as everyone who supports the economic and social strength of Olympia, to tell leaders in Evergreen, Olympia, and state government to support an even greater Evergreen presence in downtown Olympia. ◙

Find more, including the complete economic impact study about The Evergreen State College, at www.evergreen.edu.